Mayhem
by OwlMay
Summary: Post IM3. When Tony is denied acceptance onto the Avengers team because of his anxiety, he starts to go back to his old ways of not sleeping and obsessing over his suits. Now, the team is ready to step in and give him the help he needs. But what happens when he denies the help and starts heading down a path of destruction? Major IM3 spoilers.
1. Chapter 1

"So, why am I here?" Tony asked, sitting down in the not-so-comfortable chair. He had to admit, he was a little nervous. Not long ago, he had taken a psych evaluation for SHIELD, and he knew this meeting with Fury had something to do with it. The billionaire tapped his fingers against the arm rest of the chair that he sat in.

Fury sighed and opened up a file on his desk. "Stark, your psych evaluation came back," he began. "I'm sorry, but you're unfit for the Avengers."

Tony's eyes widened. What the hell was Fury talking about? He stood up from the chair, but tried his best to keep his composure. "What do you mean 'unfit for the Avengers'? I'm fit for anything!" He paused. "Look, Fury, I'm better now. Shrapnel's all gone and I've toned down the suit tinkering. I'm better." After what had happened with Aldrich, he promised Pepper he would spend more time with her and get himself better. That led to him stabilizing the Extremis that was injected into her, and getting the shrapnel out of his chest. Now he was trying his best to spend as much time out of the lab as possible. Hell, it had been a couple weeks since he last tinkered with a suit.

"Stark, your mental health is not any better," Fury explained. "You still have the anxiety attacks at the mention of New York." Hearing the city's name made the billionaire take a deep breath. "And the evaluation shows that it hasn't gotten any better since your encounters with Aldrich or afterwards. You need to get that anxiety under control before you can come back to the team." His voice was stern, but he also showed concern for Tony.

The billionaire shook his head. "Fury, I don't need help. I'm fine now. I've stopped the obsessive tinkering of the suits. C'mon, I'm better."

"Wormhole," Fury said, looking up with his one eye.

Tony only blinked once.

"How'd it feel to be up in that wormhole, Stark? How did you survive that? You must have been pretty scared up there."

"Okay!" Tony almost yelled, feeling his breath shorten. He took a few deep breaths, remembering when Harley had told him to breathe. "Fine. I get it. I'm all screwed up still after what happened in New York. I still don't sleep at all. I stare up at the ceiling. And I tried talking about to Banner, but he fell asleep right at the beginning of the story."

Fury sighed. "You do realize he's not that kind of doctor, right?"

"Yes, I realize that." Tony looked away for a few moments. He was getting better. He could feel it. It was just the topic of New York and the night he thought Pepper had died that freaked him out. Never had he told anyone this, but when Pepper was out of town one night, he had an awful nightmare about her actually being dead. Extremis never saved her. When he awoke, he was in a sweat and couldn't breathe. It took him ten minutes just to calm down. And Harley never helped the anxiety when he called and brought up New York. "Fury, I'll get better. Just let me be on the team."

The Director shook his head. "Tony, what do we do if you have an anxiety attack while out on a mission? What happens then?" He paused. "Get help first, then come back to me. Find a therapist, get medication. Something that'll help you out."

Tony didn't want to hear any more of this. With that, he exited Fury's office and made his way down the hallway of the SHIELD base. This wasn't even fair. Sure, he was still getting worked up about certain things, but he was a changed man. He wasn't as obsessive as before, he was spending more time with the woman he loved the most, and he no longer had shrapnel trying to crawl it's way into his heart. A changed man. Did nobody else seem to notice that? And he wasn't the only one on the team with issues. So he had anxiety attacks sometimes. Big deal. It didn't mean he was unfit to be on the team again.

The frustrated superhero made his way out to his car and got in. For a few moments, he just sat there. Fix the anxiety, and he was back on the team.

Easy enough, right?

* * *

Later that evening, Tony sat in the lab in Stark Tower for the first time in two weeks. There was only one suit here that he had made after he destroyed all the others. Here there wasn't much to tinker with. Most of his things were at the mansion, and that place was now just a pile of rubble. To take his mind off the fact that he had been denied acceptance onto the Avengers team, he began to add improvements onto the suit. He knew that if Pepper found him here, she wouldn't be all that happy. But this was keeping his mind off of things. Off of everything. No one really seemed to understand that being in the lab was his escape. He used it to get away from everything and relax.

_"Sir, Harley is on the line,"_ JARVIS spoke up.

Tony sighed and picked up his phone. "What do you want, kid?" he asked, keeping the thin cell-phone between his shoulder and ear as he continued tinkering with the suit.

_"You know that weapon you gave me to protect myself from a bully and ended up using on that guy that attacked us?"_ the young boy asked.

"Um, yeah," Tony replied.

_"Think you could send me another?"_

Tony winced as a wire shocked him. "Dammit," he muttered.

_"What?"_

"Nothing."

_"So about the weapon..."_

"Sorry, kid. Kinda a one-time deal. Can't you just tell an adult that another kid is bothering you?"

_"I did,"_ Harley replied.

"Who?"

_"You."_

Tony sighed. "There's gotta be someone else. Look, I can't send something like that through the mail, you know."

Harley replied, _"So come here and give it to me."_

"Sorry, no can do."

_"C'mon, Mechanic. Besides, you owe me. That watch was limited edition and now my sister is going to kill me because I gave it to you and you broke it."_

Damn. The kid kind of had a point. "Hey, I didn't break it."

_"Whatever. Doesn't change the fact that I gave it to you to _borrow_ and now it's broken. You owe me."_

"I'll talk to you about it later, okay? You're, er, cutting out."

_"No I'm not. I can hear you just fine."_

"C-n't u-stand...you." Tony hung up the phone and sat it down on the work bench. For a few more minutes, he sat there, tinkering with whatever could be tinkered with on the suit. After getting shocked a few more time by wires, he finally gave up and turned away from the Iron Man suit. He couldn't even concentrate on something he loved. All because he was denied acceptance onto the team. Since when were a few anxiety attacks harmful to being on a superhero team? He did fight off Aldrich and his team of Extremis super soldiers, after all. He fought that night like he did the day of the alien invasion in New York.

The wormhole...

He almost died...

Pepper didn't pick up the phone...

A one way trip...

Tony's breath caught in his chest, and for a few moments it heaved. With shaky hands and legs, he ran out of the lab and clumsily climbed the stairs. He needed a place to think. A _cold_ place where he could think. He was too hot right now. Sweat dripped down from his forehead. When he got to the final step after what seemed like minutes of climbing the small set of stairs, he tripped and slid down the stairs on his stomach. For a few moments, he had to just lay there and regain his breath. God, he hated this. Tony felt so weak when he was in this state. _This_ was what was keeping him from the team. He wanted his head to be back to normal so he could fight alongside his superhero friends.

"Tony?" Pepper called from the top of the stairs. "Oh my god..."

* * *

_To be honest, I have no idea where this fic is going. I saw Iron Man 3 last night and absolutely loved it. New favorite Marvel movie at the moment._

_I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter. Not sure when I'll be updating again 'cause of school and RP blogs. But hopefully if enough of you review, there will be an update this weekend c:_


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm fine, Pepper," Tony insisted. "Really." His head was against the wall and he looked over at Pepper. He now had regained his breath and was feeling better. It was embarrassing for his girlfriend to see him like this. So helpless. He was useless when he was like this, which was probably why Fury insisted that he fix this anxiety. But the thought of getting help made the anxiety even worse. That meant he would have to talk about what happened during the alien fight in New York, and the night he thought Pepper died. He just wanted to forget, and Pepper hovering over him and asking a ton of questions wasn't helping anything.

"No you're not," Pepper said, shaking her head. "You're _not_ alright. Tony, you cannot keep living like this. You're going to get help whether you want to or not." Damn, it was hard to say no when she spoke so sternly to him. Her pleading eyes almost made him say okay. "Please. For me."

Tony shook his head and took a deep breath. "Baby, I'm fine. I just need some time to think. Go relax upstairs and I'll join you in a bit." Their eyes met for a few moments, and finally she sighed and nodded her head. "Thanks, baby. I promise I'll be okay."

Pepper stood up and headed for the stairs. Before climbing the staircase, she looked back at him. He must have looked pathetic to her. "Your promises never last long." With that, she climbed the stairs, leaving Tony to think about what she had just said.

Tony knew she was right. He wasn't going to be okay for long. Soon he would remember almost dying, and he would go back to being pathetic. What kind of superhero got anxiety attacks? None that he knew about. The rest of the Avengers had their problems. Hell, Bruce tried to commit suicide. But they all hid it so well and moved on with their lives. Steve was adjusting to the 21st century and was accepting the fact that most of his solider friends had passed away. Why couldn't Tony just forget about what happened to him and move on? Why did it still have to give him nightmares and make him wake Pepper up like he was a five-year-old? All he wanted was to move on with his life; continue being an Avenger and be happy with Pepper. It seemed he wasn't allowed to be happy anymore.

The billionaire slowly began to stand up, still feeling a little dizzy. Right now, all he wanted to do was show Pepper that he was okay and then come back down to the lab. He needed a distraction. Maybe he could finish the repairs on Dummy and then create a new suit. That would definitely keep him distracted. Suit building and tinkering was what kept those memories away. No one seemed to grasp that. It was his escape. Everyone had an escape and a hobby.

Tony made his way up the stairs and headed towards the elevator. After the short ride, the elevator doors opened. He saw Pepper standing at the table where all the controls for Stark Tower were. Her back was to him, but he saw that she was on the phone and she spoke loud enough for him to hear. His hand held the elevator door as he eavesdropped.

"Yes, I know that I have to get him help... He doesn't want it, though... What else am I supposed to do? I can't force him into getting help if he doesn't want it... No, I can't hold an intervention for him. It doesn't work that way... Just give me some time, okay? I promise he'll get better... Thank you."

With that, the billionaire took his hand off the elevator door and pressed the button on the bottom to go back to the lab. Who the hell was talking to Pepper about his anxiety? Wasn't this supposed to be private? At this point, Tony was just done. They all could mind their own business. He would do whatever the hell he wanted to do about his anxiety. And that was nothing.

* * *

"What do you mean Stark isn't on the team anymore?" Steve asked Fury, arms folding over his chest. This meeting so far with the rest of the team wasn't going so good. After hearing the news that Tony wouldn't be returning, everyone was visibly upset. Sure, the billionaire was really hard to get along with, but he was a good fighter. He had well thought out plans and could make any villain distracted by anger when he spoke.

Fury sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "Stark's been going through some issues ever since what happened with New York and Aldrich. He's not fit to be on the team."

"Stark's always had issues," Natasha spoke up. "Remember when I was undercover as his assistant? He was pretty fucked up then, but you still allowed him on the team."

"I only wanted Iron Man. Not Tony Stark."

"So? You still asked him to be apart of it. What's so different about him now that he can't come onto the team?"

Fury put his hands up, wanting everyone to stop their arguing. This was going nowhere. "Look, everyone just needs to shut up for a few minutes. I can't say exactly what's going on with him. That's classified information."

Steve said, "We're his teammates."

"Rogers, shut up," Fury replied. "I cannot give out classified information. If you want to know what's going on with him, go ahead and ask him yourself. Don't think you'll get much of an answer out of him, though." He paused for a moment. "Long story short, Stark isn't coming back until he pulls himself together. Arguing with me won't change anything."

"This is ridiculous," Clint breathed.

Steve thought for a few moments. He knew that Tony had been through a lot. First he almost died during the fight in New York, and then a man named Aldrich Killian had come after him. For a while, everyone believed the billionaire to be dead. But Steve always knew that he would end up coming back. Tony always had a few tricks up his sleeve. What was bothering him now, though? He had everything back to normal. From what he had heard, he was starting new with the Iron Man suits, Pepper was okay, and Happy was okay. Maybe it was something more internal than that. Something that kept him awake at night. And he knew exactly what that was.

* * *

Once Pepper had gone to sleep, Tony climbed out of bed and headed downstairs to the lab. He would be back in bed before she could wake up and realize that he was gone. He needed to tinker right now. Sleep wasn't going to come easily for him at this point. When he entered the lab, JARVIS greeted him. The genius only muttered a simple hello and sat down on one of the benches at his desk. Dummy was going to need a lot more work on him after almost getting destroyed when the mansion was attacked. He wanted the robot to be exactly how he was before. That would mean the wiring wouldn't have to be as complicated as they would be for an Iron Man suit. And the robot could use a new paint job. Maybe a sleaker black would look better.

After a few hours of working on Dummy, Tony had his up and running just slightly. He wouldn't obey simple commands, but then again, when did the old robot obey commands? Just a few more parts to be added and then Dummy would be back to normal. Well, somewhat normal. He wasn't the smartest robot around, but Tony honestly didn't mind that.

"You'll be back to normal soon, Dummy," Tony said quietly. "Sorry 'bout what happened. Promise it won't happen again."

The robot made a weak noise in response.

"Guess I should learn not to threaten terrorists, huh? Yeah, stupid move. Almost got myself killed." More importantly, he almost got Pepper killed. If the suit never would have attached to her instead of him, she would be dead. And if it weren't for Extremis, she would be dead right now. But if it weren't for him being such an idiot, they never would have gotten into a mess like that. Pepper deserved better than him. Tony couldn't even protect her.

The next morning, Tony awoke to JARVIS telling him that Pepper needed him the living room. The billionaire groaned and said that he would be down in a few minutes. He went to the bathroom, quickly brushed his teeth, ran a hand through his hair, and went to the living room. What would Pepper want right now? JARVIS didn't say if it was urgent or anything. Just said that she needed him for a few moments. Maybe she would try to talk him into getting help for his anxiety. Couldn't anyone just leave him alone?

Once he entered the room, he groaned at the sight of Steve standing there, talking with Pepper. What the hell was he doing here?

"Captain Spangly," Tony said with a smirk. "What brings ya here?"

Pepper gave him a look. "Steve just wanted to see how you're doing." She looked over at Steve and then back to Tony. "I'll be in the office if you need me." She walked towards the elevator and then waved to the two. They both waved back.

"Fury tell you that he doesn't want me on the team?" Tony asked as he walked to the bar. "Want a drink?"

Steve shook his head. "No thanks. And it's not that he doesn't want you on the team, Stark. He just wants you to get better."

Tony scoffed. "Cap, what exactly did he tell you?"

"All he said was that you have some issues that you need to deal with before you come back to the team." Steve took a couple steps towards the bar, looking around the living room.

"I don't have any issues," Tony replied. "I'm completely fine. Fury's just got a stick up his ass like always. He'll get over his teenage drama soon and then I'll be allowed back on."

"You sure?" Steve asked. "He seemed concerned about you. I know that New York must have been hard for you." Tony took a deep breath, trying to keep himself calm at the mention of the alien fight. "And I'm sure that man going after you didn't help anything. But we're teammates. If you ever need to talk, I'm here."

Tony laughed at that. "You're just like Pepper. There's nothing _to_ talk about. Why can't you all get that through your head?"

"I can see that something is bothering you. We all want you on the team, so maybe getting help-"

Tony cut him off right there. "I don't need help, goddammit! I'm okay. Can't you all just mind your own business? New York is in the past. I'm over it!" As his hands got shaky, he dropped the glass that he was holding. Glistening shards of glass trapped his bare feet in that one spot. He now realized that he was breathing pretty heavily. Once again, he was pathetic, and he knew Steve thought so too.

The super-solider sighed and walked towards the elevator. Before stepping inside, he said, "Sure looks like it." He paused. "We've all gone through hell, Stark. You're not the only one."

* * *

_Wow, a lot of you really liked that first chapter. Hope this one doesn't disappoint anyone. I have a concussion right now from falling and hitting my head on a shelf._

_But, anyways, thanks so much to everyone who favorited this, added it to their alerts, and left reviews. You're all awesome c:_

_Leave a review so I can update again, guys._


	3. Chapter 3

"You know, you didn't have to be so rude to him," Pepper said at dinner that night. She took a sip of her wine and then looked over at Tony. He knew that look. She was disappointed in him, but hey. He was getting tired of people telling him what he should be doing about this anxiety. Right now, he was handling it. It wasn't out of control like they all made it seem.

"Sorry," Tony said with a mouthful of cheeseburger. He chewed and swallowed. "It's just, I don't need him coming in here and telling me what to do about my anxiety. Pep, I can control it. It just takes some practicing."

Pepper raised an eyebrow. "Practicing? No, it doesn't. You need to see someone about this."

"I did."

"Bruce doesn't count. I'm talking about an actual therapist. You may need to be on medication for this." Pepper took another sip of her wine and then leaned back in her chair. Her eyes met with Tony's, and he found it hard to look away. She had a point, but he wouldn't admit that. He wouldn't admit defeat just yet. "Tony, I'm worried about you. I don't want you to do what you did last time. You were reckless and put everyone in danger."

Tony sighed. "Yes, I know that, Pepper. I know that I put you in danger. I was stupid. Just... please let me deal with this how I want to deal with this. I promise I'll be better soon." His eyes were almost pleading. All he wanted was to be left alone abou this. It would only get worse if people kept bringing it up.

Pepper sighed. "Fine, Tony. Do what you want." She took her plate and brought it to the kitchen.

"Nailed it," Tony sighed.

* * *

Tony sat down in the lab late at night, finding that he didn't want to go to bed quite yet. He knew that Pepper would probably end up coming down soon to coax him into bed, but he just wasn't tired. Too many things were on his mind and just staring up at the ceiling all night wouldn't help anything. If he wasn't going to sleep, he was at least going to try to be productive. The mechanic sat on a stool, tinkering with the mask part of a new suit that he was building. He needed to be prepared in case anything were to come up and he needed a suit.

The mechanic's mind began to wander as he tinkered. He started to think about Pepper, the suits, the Avengers, and even more. It wasn't fair that he couldn't be on the team anymore. One tiny thing was wrong with him and suddenly he was unfit to work. He wondered what the rest of the team was thinking about it. Bruce knew all about the anxiety before anyone, and he knew how to react to something like that. But the others were different. Thor probably wouldn't get what they were talking about, and he really didn't know how Clint or Natasha would react. Maybe they were all just forgetting about it right now.

Hell, they probably didn't care that he wasn't on the team now. Tony had always been pretty sarcastic and sassy with them. They probably cheered when Fury told them he wouldn't be joining the team again. They probably already had him replaced.

Breath caught in this throat again and he dropped the part of the armor.

"Sir, I suggest you go get some rest now," JARVIS spoke up.

"Not now, JARVIS," Tony replied. "I'm busy."

Tony breathed out when JARVIS decided to not speak again. He picked up the helmet and sat it back down on the workbench. He began to work in peace again for a few more minutes.

"Sir, Harley is on the line," JARVIS said.

The mechanic sighed and picked up his cellphone. "Shouldn't you be sleeping? It's late. You have school tomorrow."

"Yeah, yeah," Harley replied. "I just wanted to check in. See how you're doing."

"Well I'm fine."

"Yeah, whatever. How's the anxiety? Seriously."

Tony sighed loudly, trying his best to make it obvious that Harley was already getting on his nerves. "Not talking about that right now. Go to bed."

Harley asked, "Did you get medication yet?"

"No, I didn't."

"You should be on some. Can I come visit you?"

"What? No. You have school and I don't think your mother would allow you to come to New York."

Harley sighed over the line. "Just to check up on you."

"You really aren't going to be much help. Just hearing your voice makes me have an anxiety attack." When Harley went silent over the line, Tony sighed. "Sorry, kid. It's just not a good time right now. I'm dealing with a lot. You really should head off to bed right now. You can call me tomorrow or something."

The young boy was silent for another few moments and then spoke up. "Alright. Fine. Bye." He hung up the phone, making Tony run his hand through his hair, getting frustrated.

Needing to get out of the tower, the mechanic began walking towards the new suit that he had now finished. He stepped into it, feeling comfortable right away. The suits always made him feel comfortable, even if it was full of weapons and was very dangerous. He put the helmet on and was immediately greeted by JARVIS. "Alright, let's fly, JARVIS." He shot up, going through the opened part in the ceiling to get outside. Right away when he started soaring up into the sky, he began to feel better. This was a great way to clear his head. Just him and the suit as one, flying up to the stars. He flew a little bit lower, smirking as the people on the sidewalks began to cheer him on. He then flew up towards the sky again, stopping mid-air to take a look at the city that never slept.

"Beautiful night, isn't it, JARVIS?" Tony asked.

"Yes, it is, sir," JARVIS replied.

The mechanic smirked again. "Alright. Let's head back before Pepper freaks out." He flew quickly back to Stark Tower. As he flew, he let his mind wander again. So what if the Avengers didn't want him? He would start his own super bad-ass team. One that wouldn't have so many goddamn rules. Yeah, it would be much better than the Avengers. No spangly outfits, no assassins that scared the living crap out of him.

The suit began to jug and slowed down.

"Sir, I'm afraid the suit is going offline," JARVIS explained.

"Offline? How could it go offline?"

"The suit was not prepared for a flight this fast and intense. The new design is just a prototype."

"Right. Prototype." Tony grumbled. How could he have forgotten that this was only a prototype?

The offline message showed on the screen and soon the mechanic found himself falling to the earth, faster and faster by the second. He shut his eyes tightly, soon impacting with the roof of Stark Tower. The roof crumbled under the weight of the suit hitting it so hard, falling into the living, and then the kitchen. There was a scream heard in the tower as Tony pulled the mask off his face. "Ugh, that sucked."

Pepper came running into the kitchen, obviously startled by what had happened. "Tony! Oh my god." Her face went from concerned to frustrated when she noticed that he was in a suit. She sighed. "You're back to your old ways. Just accept that and get help! You can't keep doing this!" With that, she turned around and walked out of the destroyed kitchen, running a hand through her hair.

* * *

_Sorry for the late update. Haven't been feeling all that great, so I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint. And thanks to everyone who has left so many awesome reviews! You're all amazing._

_Leave more reviews so I can update c:_


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